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00:00The second world war. France is under Nazi control. The French resistance fight back
00:10against the German invaders. But they can't do it alone. British secret agency, the SOE,
00:22and arms, explosives, and agents to help them set Nazi Europe ablaze.
00:31But when the Gestapo crack down on male agents, Winston Churchill concocts an audacious solution.
00:40He illegally sends certain agents who are banned from the front line. Women.
00:47Vera, this business of women agents, you understand it must be kept secret at all times.
00:53Most secret. Our eyes only.
00:56Spymaster Vera Atkins is charged with finding women.
01:00Are you prepared to take the fight to the Nazis? Behind enemy lines? Inoccupied France?
01:07As a spy.
01:10Training them.
01:12Good shot.
01:14Yes, sir.
01:14And sending these agents behind enemy lines.
01:20Are you ready?
01:22The Nazis won't know what hit them.
01:30But after the war, many are missing.
01:37I'll send them off as long as I can. Go!
01:39Having sent these women to war, Vera makes it her life's mission to find them.
01:46A mission that takes her deep into Germany.
01:48Oh, God!
01:49And the horrors of the Nazi regime.
01:53What happened to her?
01:54All three were taken to the crematorium building.
01:57How do you know?
01:59I watched.
02:00But it's only after her death that Vera reveals the secrets.
02:07Behind her lost women spines.
02:10In the early 1960s, Tanya Sabo pays a surprise visit to a woman who was once her mother's boss.
02:31A woman who, during the Second World War, was in charge of Britain's first ever female secret agents sent into combat.
02:45Many of whom wouldn't return.
02:48I was in my 20s, and I was looking forward very much to meeting Vera Atkins.
02:57A little trembling as well, because she was known to be fierce.
03:04This very severe lady, the Kensington lady.
03:07Vera would not have been at all concerned about how I felt.
03:20And certainly, in no way whatsoever, did I resent Vera sending my mother off to such dangerous places on her secret missions.
03:37When war is there, you do what you have to do.
03:46Your mother, when I met her, was 22.
03:53Recently bereaved.
04:01She wanted action.
04:07She wanted some sort of revenge.
04:11Vera did not easily open up to anybody.
04:15I was very aware of her decided coldness at times.
04:23And then there would be these little chinks, and she would open up.
04:27I always drove them to the aerodromes.
04:36It always seemed to be a summer's day.
04:40I saw them off.
04:47When the war ended,
04:49and they didn't come back,
04:52I went looking for them all.
04:54Missing, presumed, dead.
05:03Such a terrible epitaph for anyone.
05:08The admission is surprising.
05:12Very few people outside of Vera Atkins' inner circle
05:16knew that after the war,
05:18she'd gone looking for her missing agents.
05:20For Vera, the most important thing that she could do
05:35was to find out exactly what had happened to her agents.
05:41Long after the war ends,
05:43Vera still keeps hold of files on her former agents.
05:46Locked away, like all her secrets.
05:57In later life, she moves from Kensington
05:59to Winchelsea in Sussex,
06:03taking her closely guarded files with her.
06:05On the 24th of June, 2000, Vera Atkins dies.
06:13She announces, through her sister-in-law,
06:16that her treasured and secret files
06:18have all moved to her sister-in-law's shed in Cornwall.
06:25Journalists begin investigating the files.
06:28What is quite clear is that after the war,
06:32when SOE was being closed down,
06:34basically everything that had happened,
06:36that SOE had been involved in,
06:38was going to be just completely hidden.
06:41The British government destroyed many files
06:44relating to their women agents.
06:47But Vera's survive.
06:49I mean, to be honest with you,
06:52she shouldn't have kept them.
06:53That was illegal, even then,
06:55to keep official documents,
06:57especially secret ones.
06:59But she wanted the story to be told
07:03by someone at some point.
07:06The files contain the revelation
07:08that after the war,
07:10Vera went looking for all her lost women spies.
07:14She definitely felt responsibility
07:18to her female agents.
07:20And that must have completely haunted Vera
07:22for the rest of her life.
07:26In the files are page after page
07:30detailing the lives and codenames
07:32of Britain's first ever female agents
07:35sent to the front line.
07:38One agent in particular catches the eye.
07:42Noor Enyat Khan's training record is terrible.
07:45She was not seen as a competent agent at all.
07:49And as a result,
07:50she was not recommended to go to France
07:52by her instructors.
07:54But Vera Atkins sent her anyway.
07:58Why did Vera send Noor behind enemy lines
08:02against the advice of others?
08:05All Vera's private files suddenly become available.
08:09Private files that reveal the true story
08:14of Britain's lost women spies.
08:20But also the shocking story
08:22of the one woman whose job it was
08:24to send them into battle,
08:26Vera Atkins.
08:33It's a story that begins in France in 1940.
08:37Nazi Germany has invaded and taken over
08:47the north of the country.
08:52And Hitler has set his sights on Britain
08:55as the next target for Nazi invasion.
08:57In France, an underground force of French fighters
09:07called the resistance
09:08tried to stop the Nazis at any point they can.
09:12They commit acts of sabotage.
09:15They attack soldiers.
09:17And to do this, they need help.
09:18They need organisational skills.
09:21They need organisational skills.
09:22They need weapons.
09:23They need weapons.
09:24And they need money.
09:26They need all the help they can get
09:28to stop the Nazi threat.
09:31This support is provided by a British secret agency
09:35known as the Special Operations Executive,
09:38or S-O-E.
09:42S-O-E was sanctioned by Prime Minister Winston Churchill
09:46as early as 1940.
09:49It was unofficially known
09:51as the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare.
09:55And the whole idea was literally
10:00to set Europe ablaze
10:03and disrupt the Nazi war machine.
10:09Churchill wants to frustrate the Nazis in France
10:12and also help the resistance
10:15to launch mass sabotage attacks
10:17against the Germans ahead of D-Day.
10:19Whenever the Allied invasion of France
10:25will take place.
10:32The department responsible for this
10:34is S-O-E's France, or F-Section.
10:41Head of F-Section is Maurice Buckmaster.
10:45He's an unlikely choice for a top job at S-O-E.
10:49Buckmaster served in military intelligence,
10:55but he knows nothing about sabotage.
10:59Sir.
11:00He had no experience whatsoever
11:02in training people for guerrilla warfare.
11:06Schedule a supply drop to Acrobat for the 22nd.
11:10Yes, sir.
11:14That will be all.
11:15But Buckmaster, or Bucks as he was known,
11:20actually spent his earlier career
11:22as the head of marketing effectively
11:25for the Ford Motor Company based in France.
11:29He understood French culture.
11:31He spoke French perfectly.
11:33It's this knowledge of France
11:35that gets him the job in F-Section.
11:38Buckmaster's team is run out of Baker Street
11:41in central London
11:42and coordinates resistance operations in France.
11:47They break the resistance efforts
11:49into networks, or circuits.
11:52France was divided into circuits,
11:57circuits of agents and operatives
11:58behind enemy lines,
12:00and they were largely kept separate
12:02just in case one was compromised,
12:04they wouldn't all go down.
12:06In the French capital,
12:08Paris is the largest
12:09and most important SOE circuit.
12:13The Prosper Circuit.
12:16Each circuit is led on the ground
12:18by an organiser.
12:20Now, they're in charge
12:21of contacting London
12:23to send over all the vital equipment
12:25for the acts of sabotage
12:26for the resistance
12:27and the agents on the ground
12:29in France.
12:31And the need for more agents
12:32to feed the circuits
12:33is always growing.
12:38Especially wireless operators.
12:43Sir.
12:48A message from Prosper
12:50requesting another wireless operator.
12:52But it is dangerous work.
12:57And by the beginning of 1942,
13:00it's the most dangerous
13:01it's ever been.
13:10In France,
13:11the Nazis go into overdrive
13:13to break the networks.
13:15They very much believe
13:17that resistance was all male.
13:19So men of military age
13:21wandering around the streets
13:23would be stopped,
13:25their papers would be checked
13:26and they may be taken away
13:28for questioning
13:28or interrogation.
13:32Wireless operators
13:33who communicate with SOE
13:35from bulky transmitters
13:36are especially in danger.
13:41It's really one of the most
13:42dangerous areas in the field.
13:45The German listening devices
13:47can tune in
13:48and they hear the tap-tap,
13:50they can hear these going out
13:51on the radio waves.
13:52Within minutes,
13:54they can trace
13:55where this signal
13:56is being sent out from.
13:57The average life expectancy
13:58was six weeks.
14:02The circuits are in crisis.
14:06So head of SOE,
14:08Brigadier Colin Gubbins,
14:10the man in charge
14:11of all SOE sections,
14:14proposes a controversial idea,
14:16deploying women agents.
14:19Women could blend more easily
14:22into French life
14:24because women were still
14:25very much out there in society,
14:28whereas men are pretty much
14:29disappearing off the streets.
14:31But there's a problem.
14:34Sending women agents to war
14:36in combat roles
14:38is illegal under British law.
14:40And unlike men,
14:43these women would have no protection
14:45under international law.
14:48In April 1942,
14:50at a meeting of the British War Cabinet,
14:52the Prime Minister,
14:53Winston Churchill,
14:55secretly nods through
14:56Gubbins' suggestion.
14:59Any woman sent into combat
15:01goes unclassified
15:03and without legal cover.
15:06Buckmaster works
15:07with his second-in-command,
15:09Nicholas Boddington,
15:11to get a plan into action.
15:14All we have on our books
15:15are men.
15:18I know.
15:20Boddington is 38 years old.
15:23He's formerly worked
15:25for Reuters newspaper,
15:27so he's travelled across Europe.
15:29He's a little bit unorthodox in himself,
15:31a bit of a hustler.
15:33But he was a kind of man
15:35who could get things done
15:36and get things moving
15:38as quickly as possible.
15:40Just the kind of man he needs,
15:42especially as the female agents
15:44are required immediately.
15:47But there's another challenge.
15:50If it had come out
15:52that women were being sent,
15:54then there could have been
15:55a huge public uproar
15:56and they'd have been accused
15:58of sending young women
15:59out to their death.
16:00Their necks were on the line too.
16:02So, from that point of view,
16:05it was very important
16:06that they kept it quiet.
16:08Even within the SOE itself,
16:12very few people are allowed
16:14to know that women
16:15are being deployed.
16:17Of course, Buckmaster knows it.
16:19And one of the other people
16:20who knows it is Vera Atkins.
16:23Here.
16:24Vera's file.
16:25How about Vera
16:27to handle the whole thing?
16:30Vera Atkins
16:30is Buckmaster's
16:31former secretary
16:32and knows full well
16:34the pressure he
16:35and the resistance
16:36are under.
16:38Vera?
16:40Vera Atkins?
16:43She's volunteered.
16:44Vera Atkins
16:45was born in Romania
16:46and this makes
16:47her position
16:49very difficult
16:50because Romania
16:51is an ally
16:52of Nazi Germany.
16:53This makes her
16:54an enemy alien
16:55and she has
16:56to keep this secret.
16:57The only other person
16:58who knows about
16:59her national heritage
17:01is Buckmaster himself.
17:06Buck, she's your secretary.
17:09Junior staff officer
17:11now in Pollington.
17:12She's not one of us.
17:13There are certain things
17:19omitted from her file.
17:22Work she's done
17:23before the war
17:24for MI6.
17:25Work on the continent.
17:29During the 1930s,
17:31Vera had actually
17:32worked undercover
17:33in Romania
17:34in the Palace Oil Company
17:37as an interpreter,
17:38a role which saw
17:40her travel
17:41across Europe.
17:43At this time,
17:44she's actually
17:45passing information
17:46to MI6.
17:48But Vera is
17:49incredibly mysterious
17:51about her past.
17:52She is, after all,
17:54an enemy alien.
17:56How far can they
17:57trust her?
17:58Please, come in.
18:00Yes, sir.
18:02Nicholas?
18:03Vera?
18:04I hear you volunteered
18:06for a promotion.
18:09I just want to do my bit
18:10where I am useful.
18:13Taking charge of a new
18:15division of F section.
18:17You'll be a busy girl.
18:19You think you're qualified?
18:20I do have some experience
18:22before the war in Europe.
18:28As an interpreter
18:29for an oil company
18:31based in Romania.
18:32Romania?
18:36Allied to the Nazis?
18:40I was employed
18:41to do a little more
18:41than interpreting.
18:43Besides,
18:44it would hardly be
18:45a new division, Nicholas.
18:46I would just be
18:47helping to share
18:49the load
18:49with some of you
18:51overburdened men.
18:54Now, now, bodies.
18:57Vera,
18:58this business
19:00of women agents
19:01do you understand
19:03what you volunteered?
19:05Yes, sir.
19:05I do.
19:06And you understand
19:07it must be kept secret
19:08at all times?
19:09Most secret.
19:10Our eyes only.
19:14Very good.
19:17Then you'll handle
19:18deploying these women
19:19to France.
19:19little does Vera know
19:31that this one decision
19:33will change
19:34the course
19:34of her life.
19:36And she will have
19:37to live the rest
19:38of her days
19:38with the consequences
19:40of this secret policy
19:42to send Britain's
19:43first unit
19:44of women spies
19:45into combat.
19:53SOE desperately
19:54need women agents
19:56in the field,
19:57particularly couriers
19:58and wireless operators.
20:02In London,
20:04Vera interviews
20:05a new candidate.
20:06Noor Inayat Khan.
20:11Yes, ma'am?
20:12Please,
20:13call me Miss Atkins.
20:15Yes, Miss Atkins.
20:17Noor Inayat Khan
20:18has a very exotic background.
20:20She's born in Moscow
20:21to an Indian father
20:22and an American mother.
20:24And then they move
20:25to France
20:26and that is where
20:27she grows up.
20:29Noor is descended
20:29from royalty
20:30in India.
20:31Her father
20:33is a Sufi
20:34and he's a Sufi preacher
20:36and Sufism
20:37is a branch of Islam
20:39that believes in music
20:41and meditation.
20:43So they grow up
20:44in this very open house
20:46which is full of people
20:47and he taught Noor
20:48that you never tell a lie.
20:51You were educated
20:52at the Saborne
20:53in Paris?
20:56Yes, Miss Atkins.
20:59And afterwards
21:00became an author.
21:03Yes.
21:04I write short stories
21:05for children.
21:08I see.
21:11You arrived in England
21:13in 1940.
21:16Yes.
21:18After the Nazis invaded,
21:20we...
21:21my family
21:22left France.
21:24We escaped here.
21:25I see you joined
21:27the Women's Auxiliary Air Force.
21:29Yes, but I want
21:30to work in intelligence.
21:34And you currently serve
21:35as a wireless operator?
21:38Yes, Miss Atkins.
21:41Vera knows
21:42that the Prosper Circuit
21:43is especially pushing
21:45for another
21:45to join its ranks.
21:47Noor is a trained
21:50wireless operator
21:51who is very good at it.
21:52The other thing,
21:54of course,
21:54is that she speaks
21:55fluent French.
21:57Now, the SOE
21:58were looking out
21:59for people
21:59with language skills
22:00so they could infiltrate them
22:02into occupied areas.
22:04Noor fits the bill perfectly.
22:07Noor,
22:08do you want to make
22:09a difference
22:10in this war?
22:11Yes, Miss Atkins.
22:14Are you prepared
22:15to take the fight
22:16to the Nazis?
22:18Yes.
22:20Behind enemy lines
22:21in occupied France?
22:25As a spy?
22:26Yes, Miss Atkins.
22:35There are
22:35certain dangers.
22:38As a woman,
22:39you wouldn't be covered
22:40by the Geneva Convention.
22:42If you're called,
22:44the chances of survival
22:45are slim.
22:47Do you understand?
22:48Yes, I do.
22:55Miss Atkins.
22:57You will need
22:58to sign
22:59the Official Secrets Act
23:00and your training
23:02will begin shortly.
23:04Welcome to SOE.
23:06From now on,
23:07I'll be looking after you.
23:14In the Surrey
23:15and Hampshire countryside,
23:17Noor and the latest
23:18new recruits
23:19begin a crash course
23:21in spycraft.
23:23Their days start
23:24with an early morning run,
23:26followed by lessons
23:27designed to teach
23:28the new recruits
23:29how to blend in
23:30to occupied France.
23:34Agents were taught
23:35how to live
23:36in the country
23:37that they were going to
23:38and they were taught
23:39tiny intricacies.
23:41So in a cafe,
23:43put the milk
23:43in the tea last
23:45and not first,
23:46which is the opposite
23:46of what you would do
23:47in England,
23:48for example.
23:50Basic things,
23:50like when you cross
23:51the street,
23:52you know,
23:52an English person
23:53is going to look
23:53that way first.
23:54You know,
23:55make sure that you
23:55look left first
23:56when you're in France,
23:57otherwise it's a dead giveaway.
24:00Any slip-up
24:01could identify them
24:02as English
24:03and blow their cover.
24:06Agents learned things
24:07like silent killing,
24:08which was how to kill
24:09with your bare hands,
24:10close combat,
24:11using a variety
24:12of knives and daggers
24:14and they also learned
24:15shooting.
24:16Some of the agents
24:17fared very well,
24:18but Noor found this stuff
24:20really unnatural.
24:21It didn't come easily
24:22to her
24:23and her report
24:24actually said
24:24that she was terrified
24:25of the weapons
24:26and was very uncomfortable
24:34using them.
24:35Next, Noor is given
24:38an extensive course
24:39on wireless operating,
24:41training how to transmit
24:44messages in Morse code
24:45over the bulky radio set.
24:49Noor was already
24:50a good radio operator.
24:52A little more training
24:53would make her even better
24:54at sending Morse code.
24:56But it wasn't just
24:58plain Morse code.
24:59There was a code added
25:00on top of it
25:01which was difficult to crack,
25:03but also very difficult
25:04to learn.
25:05So she would have spent
25:07hour after hour
25:08after hour
25:09learning this Morse code.
25:13Another challenge
25:15is that,
25:16as the child of Sufis,
25:18Noor had been brought up
25:19never to lie.
25:21This becomes clear
25:23on training exercises
25:24in the English countryside
25:26where the mission
25:28is to drop secret messages
25:30in safe houses
25:31known as letterboxes.
25:35on a street
25:37patrolled
25:37by the local police.
25:40Hey, you!
25:42What are you doing?
25:45I'm training to be
25:46a secret agent.
25:48What?
25:49Here's my radio.
25:51Would you like to see it?
25:52Noor will need
25:53to learn to lie
25:54to survive.
25:56Miss Atkins,
26:04have you seen this?
26:05What is it?
26:07Noor,
26:08Inayat Khan's
26:09latest training report.
26:15If this girl's an agent,
26:17I am Winston Churchill.
26:18What do they know?
26:21Those idiot instructors,
26:22buffoons,
26:23all of them.
26:27Here it says
26:28that Noor is progressing
26:29well in her wireless operating.
26:33And a wireless operator
26:35is what they need
26:36more than anything.
26:44Idiot instructors.
26:45And Vera has caused
26:48to trust her spy's intuition
26:50once in the field.
26:53One of her agents,
26:54already operating
26:55in the south of France,
26:57is excelling.
27:02Odette Sansom,
27:03a 30-year-old French woman,
27:05is assigned
27:06to the Spindle Circuit,
27:08operating near Annecy,
27:09at the foot of the Alps.
27:11She is absolutely determined
27:15to free her country,
27:18France,
27:18from Nazi occupation.
27:21Odette plays
27:22a crucial role,
27:24acting as an SOE courier.
27:26You're sure?
27:27Yes.
27:28For the circuit organiser,
27:29Peter Churchill.
27:31This is a hugely
27:33dangerous position
27:34to be in.
27:35She is transporting
27:36the most important messages
27:39across the circuit.
27:40She is pivotal
27:42in the whole operation.
27:45So she goes in person
27:47and passes messages
27:49from place to place
27:51in broad daylight
27:52under the noses
27:53of the Germans.
27:55She's always at risk
27:56of being caught
27:57by the Nazis,
27:59but so far,
28:00undetected.
28:03Good luck.
28:04In April 1943,
28:07Peter Churchill's
28:08call back to London
28:09on a secret flight
28:10for debriefing.
28:12And in his absence,
28:13Odette is approached
28:15by a man named
28:16Hugo Bleicher.
28:19Hugo Bleicher
28:20is working
28:22for the Abwehr
28:22for German
28:24military intelligence,
28:25and he says
28:26to Odette
28:27that he'd like
28:28to defect
28:29to come and work
28:30for the Allies.
28:32He wants Odette's help
28:34getting him out
28:34of Nazi France
28:35to Britain.
28:37Turning a high-ranking
28:39German intelligence officer
28:40could be a major coup
28:42for SOE.
28:43Radio London.
28:47Update them
28:48on the situation
28:48and ask them
28:49how best
28:50they would like us
28:50to proceed.
29:03Sir,
29:05a message
29:06from Odette.
29:08Spindle's circuit
29:09had been approached
29:10by a German colonel.
29:13What?
29:14The man,
29:16an intelligence officer,
29:17is requesting
29:18an extraction
29:19to London.
29:21The request
29:22raises alarm bells
29:24at F-section.
29:25A directive
29:26from the very founding
29:27of SOE
29:28states how agents
29:30should respond
29:31in situations
29:32like this.
29:33If an agent
29:35was approached
29:36by an enemy
29:38who wanted
29:39to defect,
29:40not only were they
29:41to be completely
29:42ignored,
29:42they were actually
29:44meant to be liquidated.
29:47Odette could
29:48be compromised
29:48and if the
29:50Abwehr begins
29:50making arrests,
29:52they could destroy
29:53the entire circuit.
29:56Send a reply.
29:58Colonel,
29:59highly dangerous.
30:01Odette is to
30:02cut ties with Spindle,
30:03relocate
30:04and go into hiding.
30:06Arrange drop zone
30:08for Churchill's return.
30:09The SOE
30:10decided to send
30:11Peter Churchill
30:12back to France
30:13to try and figure out
30:14what's going on
30:14and try and rescue
30:15the situation
30:16as much as possible.
30:17Spindle circuit organiser
30:25Peter Churchill
30:26is infiltrated
30:28back behind
30:28enemy lines.
30:36Before leaving Britain,
30:40F Section
30:40warns Peter Churchill
30:41that Odette
30:42is likely compromised
30:43and that he shouldn't
30:45have anything to do
30:46with her
30:46until they've sorted
30:47the situation out.
30:49But out of the darkness,
30:51he sees her.
30:54Come on.
30:56And so therefore,
30:57she can't be avoided.
31:00She takes Peter Churchill
31:02back to her safe house.
31:05The same safe house
31:06she'd been ordered
31:07to abandon
31:08by F Section.
31:15Oh, don't worry.
31:17The German asked us
31:18to plan our flights
31:18back for the 18th.
31:20There's still three more days
31:21till he's back.
31:23It's time to move.
31:31What if the German
31:32changed his plan?
31:37Hands up.
31:38Turn around.
31:39Face the wall.
31:43Keep those hands up.
31:52No funny business.
31:57Out.
31:58Move.
31:58Move.
31:58Move.
31:58Move.
32:08Sir, it's urgent.
32:19Odette and Peter
32:20Churchill have been
32:20captured.
32:22What?
32:22The report says
32:29they're being held
32:30at Friend Prison
32:30in Paris.
32:33Their interrogation
32:34will start soon.
32:36If they haven't
32:37started already.
32:40If she cracks
32:41and they find out
32:42that she's a British agent,
32:44she's not under
32:45the protection
32:46of the Geneva Convention.
32:47She can be executed
32:49immediately.
32:49How long can she hold out
32:52against the Gestapo?
32:53The Gestapo?
32:54The Gestapo?
32:54The Gestapo?
32:55The Gestapo?
32:56century
33:01and still
33:02home.
33:03authority
33:03The Gestapo?
33:05huh.
33:06to her
33:09The Gestapo?
33:09huh.
33:13huh.
33:14huh.
33:14huh.
33:16huh.
33:16huh.
33:17huh.
33:18huh.
33:19ötatatatatatataTIa'
33:20Who are you?
33:30Why are you in France?
33:34One of the most infamous parts of SOE training was the mock interrogation.
33:39The Gestapo-style interrogation would ensue.
33:42Bright lights in the eyes, sleep deprivation, being doused in cold water.
33:46We know you're SOE!
33:48What is your mission?
33:51Please, please.
33:54Now the idea behind this was to try not only to see if an agent was Ofei with her cover story,
34:01but also to see how easy it would be to break them, to get them to speak.
34:08Nora was trembling.
34:12Even though at the back of her head it must have struck her that this is a mock interrogation.
34:18But she was absolutely terrified.
34:24We didn't even go hard on her.
34:29Nora's latest training reports are in.
34:32They aren't encouraging.
34:34Here, her training officer said he found Nora's interrogations almost unbearable.
34:41Apparently she was terrified by the bright light, saying it hurt her.
34:44She came out trembling and quite blanched.
34:50They aren't.
34:51Nonsense.
34:54The reports go on and only get worse.
34:57All of her instructors say things like she can run very well, but otherwise clumsy.
35:03In her field craft she can't help but being clumsy.
35:06In her explosive and demolitions work she tries hard, but her natural clumsiness just gets in the way.
35:13Nora's training officer also reported back that Nora was becoming despondent.
35:19You know, she was clearly suffering under a gloom.
35:22She was troubled and probably worried about deploying.
35:25Look, I'm not overburdened with brains.
35:29It is very doubtful whether she is really suited to work in the field.
35:32We don't want them overburdened with brains.
35:35What do these instructors know, sat behind a desk in a training camp?
35:39Makes me cross.
35:41Buckmaster knows that we need female agents behind enemy lines.
35:47It's absolutely crucial.
35:49The Prosper Circuit is the largest that's operating in France.
35:54It's going to have an absolutely crucial role ahead of D-Day.
35:58when the resistance mount an uprising in Paris.
36:05But Francis Suttall, who is the agent in charge of that circuit, needs a wireless operator.
36:12It's one of the most dangerous jobs for an SOE agent.
36:17Sir, Nora's wireless training reports. They are excellent.
36:23Prosper desperately require a wireless operator.
36:38But Nora hasn't finished training yet.
36:41I see something in this girl, sir.
36:44I think she's as ready as she's going to be.
36:47At this point in the war, the SOE have no choice.
36:50Beggars cannot be choosers and they need a wireless operator.
36:55Well, Miss Atkins, let's give them a wireless operator.
37:01Nora is pulled out of SOE training early.
37:06She'll join Suttall's Prosper Circuit.
37:09But Vera has reservations about one thing mentioned during Nora's training.
37:22That lately she's become despondent about deploying.
37:29Come in.
37:34Miss Atkins, you wanted to see me?
37:39Yes, Nora, please, come in. Take a seat.
37:46She has to be certain that Nora is up to the job.
37:55I need to clear something up.
37:58Your training reports.
38:00They say that lately you've fallen into a gloom.
38:04No.
38:05And that you're worried about being deployed to France.
38:10No.
38:11Miss Atkins, who said that?
38:14You know, Nora,
38:16deploying to France is a very serious business.
38:20If you are worried, if you have concerns, it's not too late to back out.
38:28If you're not sure you're the right person, if you aren't certain that you want to go, you can tell me.
38:40We can transfer you out.
38:42Miss Atkins?
38:43No.
38:44No.
38:45The most important thing in this business is trust.
38:50Trust in your fellow agents and their trust in you.
38:55That is life and death.
38:58The worst thing you can do is go out there and let them down.
39:03Miss Atkins, I'm the right person for the job.
39:06You can trust me on that.
39:09I want to go.
39:13Well then, why this report of a gloom?
39:21My mother.
39:24She's not been well.
39:27If I go missing out there, I don't know how she'll take it.
39:33Oh, I see.
39:36If I do go missing, please can you bother her as little as possible?
39:46Of course.
39:48While you're out there, I will be sure to send her a good newsletter every now and then.
39:57Thank you, Miss Atkins.
39:58Thank you, Miss Atkins.
40:01Very good, Noor.
40:03In that case, here is your cover story.
40:06So she'll be working in France as a children's nurse.
40:13Her alias will be Madeline.
40:15But her code name as a wireless operator is simply nurse.
40:21Noor's time has come.
40:30This evening, you will depart for your mission.
40:33You will be flown by moonlight to the Loire Valley, southwest of Paris.
40:39Once landed, you will be met by SOE agent, Henri Derricourt.
40:45Henri Derricourt is a mysterious figure in many ways.
40:50He was a pilot for Air France.
40:52He was a smuggler before the war as well, and so he's got that sense of flying by the
40:58seat of his pants, of getting out of difficult situations, of understanding where you can land
41:02and where you can't.
41:04And so he's a perfect choice for the F section.
41:07Derricourt will hand you a package to be flown back to England.
41:11It is crucial that this makes it onto the plane, cannot fall into German hands.
41:18One of his other tasks is to bring back uncoded letters from agents based in the prosperous circuit
41:25to London.
41:26It's enormously dangerous if the Germans get a hold of this material because this means
41:31that they've got personal information about people in that circuit.
41:36The security implications could be severe for SOE if that uncoded correspondence falls into
41:45enemy hands.
41:49Derricourt will then arrange getting you from the landing zone to your handler near Paris.
41:55Any questions?
41:57Good.
41:58Now, Vera carries out one final security check, and that is to check the clothing of the women.
42:11She checks that there are no labels inside or anything with English writing, railway tickets,
42:17or even cigarette packets.
42:21Everything just needed to look as French as possible.
42:25Gone is any hint of Noor's gloom.
42:29She's relaxed and almost elated at the thought of finally being deployed.
42:34Can't believe my time has finally come.
42:36Been such a whirlwind.
42:41And yet the adventure's just about to start.
42:46Remember what they've taught you, Noor?
42:50Yes, Miss Atkins.
42:55There.
42:56You're clean.
42:57You're so smart, Miss Atkins.
43:02You always wear the nicest things.
43:09Here.
43:10It's yours.
43:14May it bring you luck.
43:23Thank you, Miss Atkins.
43:24Are you ready?
43:26Yes, Miss Atkins.
43:30Very good.
43:39With checks finished and the plane ready, Noor sets off for her mission behind enemy lines
43:46in Nazi-controlled France.
43:48By the light of the full moon, on a field 12 kilometres north of France,
44:16on a field 12 kilometers northeast of angers in the loire valley nor's plane touches down
44:26while other women agents had been infiltrated before nor's arrival has an added significance
44:34don't worry you'll be safe with me the importance of nor's mission
44:41can't be underestimated she is the first female wireless operator that's infiltrated
44:49into france it's an incredibly important moment for vera and soe
44:55sir
45:09at f section vera and buckmaster await news on nor
45:15on the 24th of june 1943 f section receives a message from francis subtle the organizer of the
45:23prosper circuit
45:26what
45:29on subtle about nor what what is it nor was almost arrested at a letterbox subtle claims was blown
45:38he says if nor had gone there yesterday she'd have been met by the gestapo searching a safe house
45:44but how could they
45:45little says he hasn't slept in days
45:54something's gone wrong
45:58he's cancelling all letterboxes and passwords until london can confirm that the village postman has
46:04recovered
46:04that meant that he pretty much cancels everything so the letterboxes these safe houses even the
46:12infiltration of agents into paris he has to shut everything down he can't trust anybody anybody
46:20could be a double agent everybody is in danger if you aren't willing to accept my recommendation
46:28please file this report under the death of the prosper circuit
46:33the bloody hell is going on
46:36nor has been dropped into the eye of a storm did the nazis simply get a lucky break or is there a
46:42double agent what is going on and until they work it out no one is safe
46:52in paris nor lays low in a safe house trying her best to update london on the situation
47:00but after only eight days in france the prosper circuit is in chaos
47:05the guests are making a rest safe houses are being raided are they coming for us you have to move
47:35you